Sponge Bob Squarepants

JD spent a couple mornings last week sitting VERY patiently in job interviews and curriculum meetings.  He was so good I told him I would take him to lunch anywhere he wanted to go.  Not surprisingly he picked . . . 

 . . . McDonald's.  Every little boy's idea of fine dining.

Here's another thing no little boy wants to pass up -- a chance to pet a snake.  We ran into some of his cub scout friends at snake night at the wildflower center.

Only in Austin

How many uniquely Austin things can JD and I fit into one day --- quite a few.  1.  We had pizza with a showing of Brave at the Alamo Drafthouse.  

 2.  We made a visit to the Obama store.  Texas may be a red state but Austin is definitely blue.  George will probably pretend he doesn't know us when we wear the t-shirts we got.

 3.  The Big Top Candy Shop is an idea I copied from a friend's blog.  Ahhh - so much candy to pick from. Where do you begin?

4.  These food trailers have become all the rage.  We got a treat from Hey Cupcake because the candy just wasn't enough sweets for one day.

Summer Swimming

 We love going to the pool in the summer but it's not just because swimming is fun . . .

We also love the fresh pizza.  YUM YUM

Rain Rain

We've had some rain this weekend -- THANK GOODNESS!!  So our weekend activities were all indoor.

 Father and son REALLY want a travel trailer.  This one got the thumbs up from JD.  It was fun looking but the really nice ones cost more than our house.

We took in a movie at the new Alamo Draft House.  We love being able to eat pizza at the movies.

It's Friday the 13th

Even though it is Friday the 13th we've had a great last day of soccer camp. 

  Coach Hoffman is my neighbor at school and we spend a lot of lunch hours together.  I knew she'd take good care of my boy. 

 Coach Gabi helped with camp and was fabulous with JD (in spite of the fact that she spent a semester with me during the school year).  JD met up with his friend Jay from last year's camp. 

 

We had fun at birds of prey night at the wildflower center.  JD picked the bones out of an owl pellet. 

 

This was the best part though.  A rescue group showed us some of thier birds and talked about what an important part of the ecosystem they are.  Do you think gumball is a bird of prey?? 

JD the Pioneer

 JD helped me fix dinner last night (yes - another cub scout activity).  I taught him the most important lesson any cook can learn - how to open a can of beans.

 This is the dinner we ended up with - king ranch chicken, beans, salad and cookies for dessert.  YUM YUM!

 Another local attraction that I had never been to was Pioneer Farm.  We headed there early this morning trying to beat the heat.  It's an impossible task these days.  There was a cute little general store.

 I'm not sure why I took this picture but I just liked the way the red windmill looked against the very blue sky.

 JD got to pet some animals -- these donkeys were his favorites.  We talked about the donkeys a little before he asked, "mom, are we donkeys or elephants?"  OH MY -- only the son of a government teacher would come up with that kind of a question.  We are donkeys!  But don't ask your father - he thinks he's an elephant.

 There was an Indian encampment complete with tepees.

We hiked the circle around the farm and saw several old pioneer style homes.  This barn even had a barn cat that JD thought was part of the fun.

Plan a Hike

JD got one step closer to his Wolf badge today by going on a hike.  (Pun intended)

 We went to the Wildflower center where he contemplated which trail to take.  We hiked despite the warning about snakes.

 We ended up hiking both trails when our meadow trail suddenly became the woodland trail.

 Also at the center was work done by an origami artist.  It was quite amazing.

 Some of this art was actually for sale.  JD liked this one for $1667 and didn't understand why it was out of our price range.

Happy 4th

Another of JD's Wolf requirements is to plan a meal and help cook it outdoors.  What better time to cook outdoors than the 4th of July.  JD and George made excellent chicken.

French Legation

 One of JD's cub scout requirements is to go to an historic place.  I picked the French Legation because I'd never been there before.  We had an excellent tour guide who taught me a lot and JD was very patient through it all.

 The French Legation was built by the french during the Republic of Texas days.  (Remember, Texas was once it's own country.)  If you were a big country they built an embassy -- it you were a small country they built a legation.

 Right there is what is wrong with the French - how dare they consider The Republic of Texas a small country.

The French Legation web site said there was a hedge maze.  It wasn't exactly a very challenging maze.  The web site made it look a lot bigger.  ANY WAY --- check off our first Wolf requirement!